The Power of Thiol-ene Chemistry

As a tribute to Professor Charlie Hoyle, we take the opportunity to review the impact of thiol-ene chemistry on polymer and materials science over the past 5 years. During this time, a renaissance in thiol-ene chemistry has occurred with recent progress demonstrating its unique advantages when compared with traditional coupling and functionalization strategies. Additionally, the robust nature of thiol-ene chemistry allows for the preparation of well-defined materials with few structural limitations and synthetic requirements. To illustrate these features, the utility of thiol-ene reactions for network formation, polymer functionalization, dendrimer synthesis, and the decoration of three-dimensional objects is discussed. Also, the development of the closely related thiol-yne chemistry is described. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48:743-750, 2010